Ex-Guinea leader, son of Mali’s ex-president sanctioned by US for right abuses

The United States has imposed sanctions on more than 40 people and entities for alleged rights abuses from nine countries, which include asset freezes of Guinea’s former President Alpha Conde and Karim Keita, son of former Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement the announcement was the outcome of a thorough and multiyear investigation.

Alpha Conde, who was deposed in a coup in September 2021, was sanctioned for his “connection to serious human rights abuses”. In 2010, Conde became Guinea’s first democratically elected leader and was re-elected for a controversial third term after a constitutional referendum 10 years later. His presidency was bogged by allegations of endemic corruption and serial human rights abuses. In May, Guinea’s attorney general ordered legal proceedings against Conde and 26 of his former officials for alleged crimes, including acts of violence while in office.

Meanwhile, Keita served as the president of the Security and Defense Commission of the National Assembly in Mali from February 2014 until his father was overthrown in an August 2020 coup. He used his position to receive bribes, embezzle government funds and remove other officials who did not support his actions, the US said. Keita was also allegedly involved in the abduction, torture, and murder of a reporter who was investigating his involvement in corruption.

The announced sanctions freeze any US assets of the affected persons and bar US citizens from dealing with them. Individuals and entities from El Salvador, Guatemala, Iran, North Korea, Philippines, Russia, the Tibetan autonomous region of China, and elsewhere were also included in the sanctions list.